


The Fire That Gives

by CreatorOfDimensions



Series: The Northern Cold Apocrypha [1]
Category: From The Heights
Genre: M/M, black metal boyfriends, but when daniel gets on his knees it's not to pray, they don't torch the church don't worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:38:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8738608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreatorOfDimensions/pseuds/CreatorOfDimensions
Summary: From The Heights Apocrypha 1: Daniel takes Espen up on the offer to be his date to his sister’s wedding and distract him from his miserable break-up. Espen turns out to be better company than his older brother could possibly have been; with no care for decorum, he has no scruples desacrating the church that was the bane of Daniel’s childhood, nor does he think twice about ditching the party to give Daniel what he needs more than keeping up appearances.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Here's something I couldn't possibly put in the book, but couldn't resist writing, regardless. Enjoy, en let me know if I need to put up more of these. There's more where this came from.

Espen fiddled with the silver brooch pinning the standing collar of his dress shirt in place, a little more nervous than he cared to admit, when Daniel’s ancestral home came into view.

‘Espen?’ Stein asked over the absence of the engine’s rumble. ‘Need help getting out of the car?’

‘No, ah, I’ll be alright.’

‘Stop fretting, you look fine.’

‘Yeah, thanks dad,’ Espen said faintly.

His father leaned in to give him a peck, followed a little shove. ‘It’s just Daniel.’

‘Sure. Thanks for dropping me off.’

Espen pushed the car door open and carefully stepped into the snow, inwardly cursing his impractical buckle shoes. Not bringing his crutch was asking for trouble, but the crutch messed with his aesthetic. He waved at his father and rang the doorbell, calming his nerves with a deep breath. Daniel’s sister Liv hurriedly opened the door for him, her embroidered skirts swaying.

‘Hi Liv. You look nice. Love the dress.’

‘Hey Espen.’ She reached out and fingered the silky material of the waistcoat he wore underneath the black wool jacket. ‘You don’t look half bad yourself. Come in. Daniel is _still_ putting off getting dressed.’

‘Oi, Espen, is that you?’ Daniel hollered down the stairwell. ‘Come help me out, mate.’

Espen dragged himself upstairs to find Daniel in Reidun’s room, combing his hair out. Frode had been right the other week; Daniel was a vision in _bunad_. The antique look of his off-white dress shirt complemented his pale skin and black hair, and the breeches and stockings he wore hugged his slim legs.

‘What was with all the complaining, then?’ Espen asked. ‘Look at you, you’re stunning.’

‘It’s not very metal,’ Daniel countered.

‘Actually, it is. That bloke from Taake wears it, too. Looks damn good.’

‘Hm.’ Daniel set out different sets of piercing jewellery. ‘Which do you think…?’

‘The labret studs,’ Espen said, nervousness forgotten, eased by their long standing familiarity. ‘Keep it low-key.’

‘They’re making me go to _church_.’

‘It’s only an hour, right? We’ll make it fun.’

Daniel looked him over, and gestured at Espen’s clothes. ‘You have absolutely no problem walking around like that, do you?’

‘I’m a little uncomfortable,’ Espen admitted. ‘I last wore this when I was sixteen. The pants are too tight and my shoulders feel like they’re about to tear out of the jacket any moment.’

Daniel shot him a calculating look. ‘Turn around.’

Espen did as he was told, and felt Daniel put hands on his waist.

‘I suppose all those squats they made you do in rehab didn’t help,’ Daniel murmured. ‘So… you put out on first dates, right?’

‘Please don’t say stuff like that.’

‘Why not?’ Espen could hear the smile in Daniel’s voice behind him.

Espen lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘What do you mean, why not? Because it’s all I’m going to be thinking about, you idiot. Church or no church.’

‘Wicked,’ Daniel said, lightly palming Espen’s backside. ‘I guess you’ll have to take off the jacket and hold it in front of you or something.’  

Espen drew in a ragged breath at the unexpected caress. ‘You’re evil, you know that?’

‘Are cats evil for playing with their prey?’

‘They eventually eat it. Are you going to eat me, then?’

Daniel pressed himself up against Espen’s back, and whispered, against the shell of his ear: ‘It’s on my to do list.’

Espen couldn’t fight the arousal that spread through him from the contact with Daniel’s body. He reached back to put his hands on Daniel, but Daniel chuckled darkly against his neck and spun him around, running his hands down Espen’s hips.

‘Go on, mate. Lose the pants,’ he prompted with a crooked smile.

‘I’m not going to pull my dick out first thing. It isn’t right,’ Espen whispered, feeling flustered.

‘Ooh, we have a romantic, ladies and gentlemen.’

Daniel leaned in as if sharing a kiss was just a trifle to him. Espen felt his own lips part with barely contained want.

The door flew open. Espen’s heart beat in his throat as he pulled away.

‘Daniel, _will_ you hurry up?’ Mette shot him an exasperated look. ‘Andreas is going to arrive any minute, and then we’ve got to go straight to church.’

‘You straights and your churches.’

Mette rolled her eyes and ran back down the stairs, leaving the door open to the landing.

‘Could you help me fasten that pin in a second?’ Daniel asked, bending down to see in the dressing table mirror as he replaced his lip rings with deft fingers.

‘Yeah,’ Espen said, his head still spinning from almost kissing Daniel.

It was strange that they never so much as made out, with the attraction and familiarity that always existed between them. But the time hadn’t been right before, he supposed. With everything that happened in their lives in the past years, there had been no room to explore their potential.  

Espen fastened the brooch over the hollow of Daniel’s throat. His hands were surprisingly steady, even though he was close enough to smell the coffee on Daniel’s breath. Respect for the space Daniel might still need kept Espen’s feelings in check well enough. Daniel would tell him what he wanted, and when he wanted it. Espen had patience.

Daniel extracted a hipflask from his bag. He pocketed it in his jacket with a grin.

‘Yours has pockets?’ Espen asked.

‘I had Marius sew one for the occasion. He’s pretty good with needle and thread these days.’

Espen followed Daniel to the living room. After dutifully telling Reidun she looked beautiful in her boring, conservative wedding dress, he took a seat to wait for the proceedings to move along, daydreaming about what would have happened if Mette hadn’t chosen that moment to interrupt them. He could have kissed Daniel by now. Somewhere deep inside, he ached for it.

Reidun’s dull sock-puppet of a future husband eventually showed up, and Daniel hitched them a ride to church in the car of an uncle.

‘Who is this, then?’ the elderly woman in the passenger seat asked Daniel.

‘This is Espen, Nan. Pretty sure I told you about him. He’s my best mate, and incidentally also my date.’

The uncle frowned in the rear-view mirror.

‘Don’t look so shocked. Pretty sure everyone knows I’m queer by now,’ Daniel said loudly. ‘I had a boyfriend a while back. He was there at the twins’ birthday, remember? Big ginger bloke.’

Espen glanced out of the window to hide his expression. There was that niggling guilt about trying to take Frode’s place again. It felt childish to pretend he was entitled to give dating Daniel a shot out of some sort of ‘I saw him first’ principle, but he couldn’t let his soulmate drift away from him because Daniel happened to have had a doomed relationship with his older brother. Frode and Daniel hadn’t been built to last, but Espen felt in his heart that he could be good for Daniel, if Daniel wanted.

When the car pulled up to the church, Daniel offered Espen his hand even though the pavement had been shovelled. Espen took it eagerly, and tried to warm Daniel’s cold fingers in his as they walked. Their breath misted in front of their faces.

‘This is it, Es,’ Daniel said, poised to enter the gloomy, vaulted hall of the church building. ‘Fingers crossed we don’t burst into flame.’

Wedding guests passing them left and right gave them looks when Espen laughed.

‘I’m sure God would think you’re too pretty to kill off, even though you’re a bit naughty.’

‘You think I’m pretty?’ Daniel toyed with his hair in a mockery of charm that was somehow still charming.

Espen wrapped an arm around Daniel’s shoulders and pulled him through the heavy double doors. ‘Where do you want to sit?’

‘Somewhere we won’t be watched.’ Daniel steered him to the right, and drew him behind a wide column. He pressed Espen up against the stone. ‘You still want that kiss?’

With confidence he didn’t quite feel, Espen pulled Daniel close by his lapels, his fists tightening on the material. Daniel kept their gazes locked as he brought up a hand to caress Espen’s face. Espen’s breath quickened, surrendering to Daniel’s open-mouthed kiss, filthy and wet, and so inappropriate for the setting. He couldn’t help himself. He loved Daniel, and would take anything he was willing to give.

Daniel smiled against his lips as he wedged his knee between Espen’s legs.

Shockingly loud organ music suddenly overwhelmed the din of wedding guests finding seats in the pews. Daniel laughed softly in pulling away, and led Espen to the pews at the back of the congregation.

Espen fiddled with the service booklet to keep it together long enough to watch Daniel’s father lead his youngest daughter down the aisle. He shivered once they passed, flushed hot but shaking with nerves and excitement. Feeling bold, he took Daniel’s hand and held it.

As soon as the priest began to speak, Daniel passed him the flask, which contained something bitter and home-brewed. The alcohol went to his head immediately, lowering his inhibitions enough to ignore the would-be profound chatter of the priest and focus on stealing kisses and touches from Daniel. Daniel’s hair felt so soft under his fingers, and the coloured light of stained-glass windows made his easy smile seem even softer.

Occasionally, songs during which they had to stand up for some reason forced them from their comfortable embrace. Espen generally picked up the melodies after the first two verses, though the scales were unfamiliar and the moonshine made sight reading the words harder. Daniel flat-out refused to sing, of course.

When the priest embarked on a sermon, Daniel scooted close again. Espen pet the far side of his face with his stiff right arm slung across the back of the pews. Feigning a bored look ahead at the pulpit, Daniel laid a hand on Espen’s abdomen. He let it slowly creep up underneath the cover of his jacket, feeling out Espen’s chest through the fabric of his shirt and waistcoat.

Espen belatedly swallowed a sound of longing, remembering they were in a crowded church. It was ridiculous how his world narrowed to Daniel only when they touched. Espen found he didn’t care. He tilted his face to press a kiss to Daniel’s cheek, but Daniel met him with his lips. The hand underneath Espen’s jacket tightened in the fabric in restrained want when Daniel opened his mouth to Espen’s tongue.

Espen felt himself grow hard at the thought of hoisting Daniel into his lap and putting hands on his arse. As if sensing it, Daniel’s hand stroked down his side, brushing dangerously close to the erection that lay against his hipbone.

‘Don’t,’ Espen mouthed half-heartedly.

He tried to mentally distance himself from the hand that cupped him, but his cock twitched against Daniel’s palm. Daniel wore the faintest smirk, a feverish blush gracing his cheeks.

‘This is delightfully blasphemous, isn’t it?’

Espen had to stop himself from throwing back his head and groaning under the increasingly bold squeezes that worked his shaft through the fabric of his breeches. He leaned his forehead against Daniel’s temple instead.

‘Please stop,’ he implored.

‘Are you sure?’ Daniel squeezed a bit harder.

Espen’s mouth fell open in a soundless moan.

‘Fine, I’ll wait.’ Daniel abruptly withdrew his hand. The sudden absence of touch was agonising. ‘I was planning for you to come inside me one way or another, anyway.’

‘Fucking hell, Dan, _stop_.’

Daniel shot him a sideways, half-lidded glance. ‘I’m so ready for it. I’d sit on your cock right now if I thought we’d get away with it.’

Espen extracted himself and tried to inch away from Daniel.

‘You said we’d make this fun,’ Daniel reminded him. ‘I’m having fun.’

The last time clumsy organ music played, Espen had no idea what was going on with the service anymore. He leafed through the booklet in front of them, but Daniel got up with a triumphant sound.

‘We survived.’

People began to file out of the pews behind the newlyweds. Espen glanced down at his very noticeable hard on and shrugged out of his jacket to hold it in front of him.

‘Your choice,’ Daniel murmured. ‘Shall I blow you in the bathroom now or do you want to wait?’

‘What kind of question is that?’

‘I was hoping you’d say that.’

Glancing over his shoulder, Daniel ushered Espen into the men’s room in a hallway. Squeezing into a cubicle after judging it safe, Daniel wasted no time on formalities. He got on his knees, trying not to scuff his shoes, and undid Espen’s breeches just far enough to shove his underwear down and pull his cock out.

Breathing hard, Espen watched Daniel wet the head with his tongue, his fingers digging into Espen’s thighs. Espen steadied himself with one hand on the wall and one on Daniel’s head. Daniel glanced up through his eyelashes, and then swallowed his cock whole. His cheeks hollowed beautifully; his pointy nose nearly brushed Espen’s pubes.

Espen bit his lip to prevent himself from making a sound as Daniel’s wet, hot mouth stimulated his cock in a perfect cadence. The technique drove him half out of his mind; even more so when he saw Daniel slide a hand into his own breeches to jack himself off. He was on the verge of coming in moments, but then a familiar voice echoed through the hall outside.

‘Daniel! Where are you?’

Espen clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his loud panting.

Daniel pulled off, and whispered: ‘We should probably stop.’

‘What? No, please,’ Espen begged, ‘I’m so close.’

‘Come for me, then.’

Espen gave his cock a couple of firm strokes to push himself over the edge. Orgasm overwhelmed him so strongly he couldn’t coordinate shoving it back into Daniel’s mouth. Daniel drew in a sharp breath. The first spurts of cum landed on the side of his face rather than on his tongue.

Biting back a moan, Espen felt himself going weak in the knees with the release. Daniel swallowed as much as he could, and scrambled for some tissue paper to catch the semen that trickled down his jaw before it splashed onto his stark black coat. He quickly wiped the lower half of his face but missed a drop, which dripped onto his lapel. Espen laughed, trying to catch his breath in vain.

‘You decent?’ Daniel barely waited for Espen to tuck his shirt back into his breeches before unlocking the door. ‘Let’s go.’

 

 

* * *

 

 

Daniel shot his reflection in the bathroom mirror a quick glance. He didn’t look much worse for wear as far as he could see. The fact that his lips were a little red would probably be overlooked. Espen, however, looked decidedly dishevelled, with curls escaping his loose ponytail on all sides and a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. Combined with the colour in his cheeks, anyone who looked twice could tell he just got off. It was going to look great in the wedding pictures. 

‘Come on, sweetheart,’ Daniel urged, smoothing Espen’s hair with his hands.

Espen glanced at Daniel’s crotch and palmed it. ‘What about you, though?’

‘Don’t you worry about that.’ Daniel drew Espen’s hand away with reluctance and kissed the inside of his fingers. ‘The day’s barely begun. We still have a city hall and a party to defile, so I think we’ll have to take turns to keep it up.’

Espen favoured him with a broad grin, then took Daniel’s face between his hands for a joyful and passionate kiss before he let himself be towed out of the bathroom.

Liv met them in the hallway. She gave Daniel the stink eye after glancing them over.

‘I’m not even going to ask. You’ve got something on your jacket, by the way.’

Espen wet his thumb and reached over to rub at a spot Daniel couldn’t see.

‘What a way to behave, Daniel,’ Liv tutted.

‘Bite me, darling.’

The wedding guests were milling around the steps of the church, getting in position for the pictures. Daniel dragged Espen to the front and took up a spot next to his mother with a defiant look. He wasn’t going to pretend Espen meant anything less to him than he did. Espen proved himself in his unwavering support after everything went to shit with Frode, and since he turned twenty in November, Daniel wasn’t too concerned with his relative youth anymore.

There was something about Espen that thawed the coldest parts of him.

‘Stop smiling so much,’ Daniel whispered. ‘This is a grim affair.’

He let his hair fall across his face and raised his hand in a claw. Espen stifled a giggle.

While the photographer fiddled with her camera, Daniel couldn’t help but notice it was the same model as Frode’s. Recollections transported him back to the autumn, painfully reminding him of all the magical aspects of their relationship he wasn’t quite over.  

Sometimes he’d wake to Frode rearranging his limbs in the bleak morning light, tilting his head back and pulling the blue-striped covers back to photograph the planes and angles of his naked body. Other times particular scenery would prompt ideas for images Frode wanted to capture. Daniel vividly remembered stripping down under threatening skies on a northern beach and getting into the dark waters at his request. It had resulted in a compelling composition in blacks and greys, his wet hair plastered against deathly pale skin, with blue veins standing out from the cold. Frode had towelled him dry and warmed him with his body in their tent afterwards, wrapped in their sleeping bag, and fucked him silly as soon as his temperature was back up. God, that man could fuck. What a waste he’d had to let him go.

Even when the mood would strike Frode where he’d leave his feral hunger at the door and he worshipped Daniel instead, endlessly plying his lips and tongue, speaking quiet words of adoration against his skin, Frode gave him a hundred percent. Daniel never felt so loved in his life as during those short months.

‘I’d love to,’ Espen said. ‘You’ll have to tell me how you like it, though.’

‘Sorry, what?’ Daniel had lost track of the conversation on the short walk to the town hall.

‘You asked me whether I ate arse,’ Espen said under his breath.

‘Out loud?’ Daniel figured he must be more inebriated than he thought. ‘That’s pretty forward even for me. I’d better stop talking, before I say something inappropriate during the civil ceremony.’

Reidun had asked Daniel and their father to be her witnesses instead of her sisters or close friends. Daniel hated the idea, because knowing Reidun, for her it symbolised something like male family members signing over ownership to her husband. Of course, there was no way to protest that without treading on everyone’s toes, so he pretended it was an honour.

‘Do I get a share of the dowry now?’ Daniel muttered to Espen, sitting back down after signing the legal documents at the end of the ceremony. ‘I wouldn’t mind a couple of those goats they’re always banging on about in the Bible.’

‘Goats are metal as fuck,’ Espen agreed, steadying him with a hand.

Espen assured Daniel he was up for walking to the restaurant from the town hall, and though they both sobered up a little after the moonshine ran out, he got no less chatty. In many ways there was no comparing him to his brother. However, in some little things, like the effortless way he carried his tall frame, and his excellent manners when he chose to display them, their similar good breeding showed.

Daniel cast a sideways glance at Espen. It was a little like going out to dinner with an old timey gentleman. His black curls tied back with a ribbon and the blood red cravat he wore with his dress shirt certainly made him look the part.

Over dinner, Daniel basked in the way Espen couldn’t keep his eyes nor hands off him while they spoke, shutting out the rest of the company. He couldn’t wait for the whole wedding crap to be over and let Espen have his way with him in bed. The tell-tale colour in Espen’s cheeks returned when Daniel quizzed him on how many times Espen thought they could do it later that night.

In the bustle of the wedding guests relocating to a different room in the venue for the party, he pulled Espen into a niche in the dark hallway, half-hidden behind a heavy, decorative drape.

‘Call your dad to pick us up,’ he murmured in the space between their lips as Espen crowded him against the wall.

‘Gladly.’ Espen rucked up Daniel’s waistcoat a little to envelop his waist with big hands, and Daniel felt himself get hard for what seemed like the tenth time that day.

Espen tasted like the tangy wine they’d been drinking. The hand cupping his arse squeezed a little too hard, which was just the way he liked it. Espen nudged his legs apart to press against him harder, and caught skin between his teeth to mark Daniel's neck up.

Daniel let his head fall back against the wall. He needed that mouth somewhere else.

‘We need to get the hell out of here.’

'In a minute...'

Espen wet the fingers of his left hand between his lips, and carefully slid it down the back of Daniel’s breeches. Daniel startled when he felt a finger against his hole.

Espen smiled against his cheek, and pushed his finger inside in an overconfident movement.

'Not here,' Daniel murmured.

‘Nah, you like this. You love knowing that I want you so badly that I don’t even care who sees me all over you.’

Daniel rested his forehead against Espen’s shoulder and rocked his hips back and forth. Espen wasn’t wrong. Daniel was proud of his ability to drive normally level-headed men to madness.

‘Come on, you cheeky cunt. Stop playing around.’

Espen pushed another digit into Daniel’s hole and hungrily finger-fucked him. ‘Do you want to say goodbye to your sister?’

Daniel groaned. ‘To hell with my-’

Espen broke away without warning, the hand kneading Daniel’s cock quickly moving to his waist. The other remained knuckle-deep in Daniel’s arse as Espen half-turned to face Reidun.

‘What are you guys doing back here? There party’s that way.’

‘We were just discussing what time we should go home,’ Espen fibbed. ‘My back is killing me.’

‘Right,’ Reidun said. ‘You probably want to get out of here before the family starts doing sketches and gets really embarrassing.’

Espen slowly pulled his hand out of the back of Daniel’s breeches to pretend it had been lying on the small of his back. He smiled innocently. ‘Have a lovely evening, then.’

Stein came to pick them up soon after Espen made the call.

‘Did you have fun, lads?’ he asked when they got in his car.

‘It was more tolerable with Espen there,’ Daniel said with as much dignity as his raging hard on allowed him.

At the Stedjeberg house, Daniel all but dragged Espen up the stairs by his jacket.  

‘Please tell me you want to top,’ he whispered as soon as the living room door closed behind Espen’s dad.

‘Yeah,’ Espen said, out of breath with the same impatience. ‘You have no idea how much I want to be inside you. Ever since I heard Frode fuck you on the other side of the wall that night we all got wasted… _Damn_.’

A smile curled Daniel’s lips. ‘Were you jealous?’

‘Wasn’t it obvious?’

Espen’s frankness thrilled Daniel in a way he hadn’t imagined possible after what his love life had thrown at him thus far. Perhaps it was because he’d never seriously considered Espen as an option before, misled by his playfulness and their comfortable friendship. If Espen was anywhere near as fierce a lover as his brother, he’d be set. If not, Daniel would put that jealousy to good use to make it so.  

Daniel began to strip before Espen even closed the door to his room, tossing the jacket of his _bunad_ in the general direction of the desk chair. Espen caught up, and batted his hands away when Daniel started on the waistcoat. Espen’s long fingers, knobbly and calloused and tinged blue with the cold, pried the buttons loose at a much slower speed than Daniel could have managed himself.

‘For fuck’s sake, just rip it open. I’m never wearing this again, anyway.’

A smile softened Espen’s face, but his eyes remained trained on the buttons.

When Espen kissed him, blindly pushing the waistcoat from his shoulders, Daniel took the liberty to drop his breeches to the floor.

Espen was still pulling off his long stockings when Daniel flipped back the covers of Espen’s bed. He stretched out on the mattress to watch Espen untuck his dress shirt and pull it up over his head. Espen was built in his own way from years of extreme sports and playing drums, and fitter than Daniel despite a six month rehabilitation, but he remained boyish and angular where his older brother had filled out and bulked up. Still, Daniel appreciated the male form in many different shapes. Espen would do.

‘Come here, sweetheart,’ he urged. ‘It’s cold.’

Espen crawled onto the bed with him, an eager set to his face and body language.

Daniel glanced him over, his eyes lingering briefly on the puckered scar on his thigh. Its glossy purple tissue was a near-match for the head of his hard cock, which Daniel was currently a lot more interested in. He pulled Espen on top of him, the warmth of their skin on skin instantly rewarding.

‘Do we need to mind your back?’ Daniel asked, grabbing him by the arse when Espen began to grind on him.

‘Hush,’ Espen said, shushing him with a deep kiss. ‘We’ll get to that.’

Butterflies overpowered a fleeting hygiene panic when Espen flipped Daniel onto his stomach and knocked his knees apart to get comfortable between his legs.

‘Hmm,’ Espen murmured. He gently bit one of Daniel’s cheeks before spreading them with his hands. ‘I’m liking this already.’

The faint prickle of a closely shaved jaw rasped Daniel’s crack for a brief moment before a careful tongue tasted his hole, then licked it in earnest. The soft tenderness of it compelled Daniel to let go of all negative tension his body was holding and relax against the mattress. Espen’s technique was deliberate but delicate, a remnant of primarily sleeping with girls perhaps. Arching his spine, Daniel reached behind his back to press Espen’s face deeper into his crack. Espen adapted, digging his fingers into Daniel’s cheeks and delving his tongue deeper. Daniel cried out in surprise when Espen’s left hand came down on his arse in a firm smack.

‘ _Fuck_ yes,’ he breathed, encouraging Espen to do it again.

Espen’s breath erratically warmed Daniel’s spit-slick hole as he moved behind him, rubbing his cock into the mattress. Daniel’s hand blindly sought the drawer in Espen’s nightstand he knew contained condoms, lube and towels, unsuccessful the first few tries because he kept looking back to watch Espen eat him out. Espen’s flyaway curls and the pink glow in his cheeks made him look so sweet, his eyes closed in an angelic expression as he tongued Daniel’s hole.  

Daniel only very reluctantly twisted, breaking contact, to toss Espen a condom.

‘Please tell me you don’t need this to be romantic,’ he begged, squeezing the silicon lube onto his fingers from a bottle.  

‘I came on your face in a public bathroom earlier,’ Espen reminded him, intently watching Daniel apply lube to his hole as he rolled the condom down. He discarded the wrapper and hauled Daniel’s bottom up by the hips with surprising strength. ‘Talk to me.’

‘Go slow…’

‘Like this?’ Espen murmured, pushing the tip of his cock in with care. His soft panting was all Daniel heard for a moment. Then he reached between Daniel’s legs to stroke him with a swift, light touch.

‘Yeah... All the way in, and then all the way out.’

Espen’s hand distracted Daniel from the initial pain he always felt, which ebbed as Espen pulled out. Daniel still hadn’t figured out whether it was psychosomatic, and didn’t care to think about that now. He breathed deeply, a new wave of arousal crashing over him as he felt Espen’s hard cock brush against the back of his thigh.

‘That’s it,’ he said, bracing himself, ‘show me what you’ve got.’  

Espen was still careful, entering him a second time, but perhaps more because he savoured it. His quiet moan raised goose bumps on Daniel’s arms.

‘Oh,’ Espen brought out, ‘this is so good, and you’re so beautiful…’

His cock throbbed in the absence of movement, and Daniel could feel it swell further inside his hole.

‘I want you to give it to me hard,’ Daniel instructed, guiding Espen’s hand to grip his waist. ‘I need that right now.’

The first few ragged thrusts curled his hands into claws, gripping the sheets. Espen backed his rock hard cock up with considerable strength, inexorably shaking loose all the doubt and pain Daniel carried with him every waking moment, until he could no longer form a coherent thought, only _more_ , and _yes_ , and _fuck me_.

Espen hauled him upright on his knees, pulling Daniel’s back against his chest in a tight bear hug, forcing him to take his cock with his head falling back onto Espen’s shoulder. Open-mouthed kisses trailed his neck from his jaw to his collarbone as Espen’s hands splayed across his chest and stomach, stroking down at an excruciating pace.

Slowing, Espen grasped Daniel’s cock, panting loudly against the back of his neck. A firm squeeze of Espen’s hand filled it with an influx of blood. Daniel could feel Espen reacting to his arousal from the stretch of his hole.

‘Fuck, I’m so hard,’ Espen said breathlessly, picking up a new rhythm with his hand and hips. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been this hot for anyone.’

‘Come inside me,’ Daniel urged, feeling orgasm build with Espen’s words and his light, rapid strokes, its tendrils spreading to the far reaches of his lower body every time Espen shoved his cock in. ‘Fuck me hard. Fill me up-’

 Espen responded to the clench of his body with steady force, fucking him through the whiteout that overtook his mind. When Daniel’s semen splashed both of them in uncontrolled spurts, grit darkened Espen’s voice.

‘Yeah… Give it up, love.’ He gathered his strength with an arm around Daniel’s waist and a hand on his hip. ‘Is this what you want?’

Daniel bore the pounding Espen gave him with gritted teeth, biting out: ‘Yes, _yes_ -’ until Espen stilled, his breath briefly suspended, his blissful voice echoing the waves of his orgasm.  

They held each other for a while, sticky with sweat and chests heaving as they caught their breath.    

Someone had turned up the volume of the TV downstairs, which made Espen laugh quietly, resting his forehead on Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel felt a mild pang of anxiety about Marit and Stein knowing he moved from one son to the next in the space of three months, but decided they’d probably seen it coming.

Espen ushered him into the shower and changed the soiled fitted sheet. With only Espen’s bedside lamp illuminating the dim room, they braided each other’s hair on the edge of the bed.

Daniel felt safe, curling up to Espen, in a way he’d never had before with anyone; safe in the knowledge that Espen would be there for him, tomorrow, and five - ten - years from now, with his brilliant smile his constant affection.

Espen pressed a kiss to Daniel’s forehead after turning off the light, and murmured: ‘I love you.’

Daniel tightened his arms around him, unable to return the words.

‘You’re going to be okay,’ Espen offered after they’d lain in silence for a while. ‘Trust me. And trust yourself. No one can touch how intrinsically good you are, and you will always be loved.’

‘Stop,’ Daniel muttered, blinking away unexpected hot tears. ‘This was just supposed to be sex.’

‘It _was_ just sex. But you know me. I was sappy before we fucked.’

‘Sappy and chatty. Now shut up and turn around. I want to spoon.’

Espen burrowed deeper into his pillow as he rolled over, delight lacing his hum.

Daniel pressed himself against Espen’s back, and draped an arm across his hip. He knew he was going to be okay one way or another, but that didn’t stop him from lying awake a little longer while Espen’s breathing deepened, wondering if the same would be true for the one he left behind. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Find out more about From The Heights and The Northern Cold in general at http://thenortherncold.tumblr.com/  
> And let me just say that if you're reading my stuff, feel free to hit me up any time to talk or send me requests for fic, au's and what have you. <3


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